Write with the Greats: English Literature & Creative Writing

Explore multiple poem forms, from blank verse with iambic pentameter to free verse, epic, narrative, pastoral, elegy, ballad, and ode, with examples and practical writing guidance.

An exploration of Wordsworth's daffodils as a lyric nature poem, followed by a guided creative exercise to write a personal nature poem using sensory details and free verse.

Analyze Sylvia Plath's blackberrying and its emotional subtext, then write a rhythm-driven outdoor poem using show, don't tell, guided by six questions (what, why, when, how, where, who).

Study Lord Byron's she walks in beauty and craft a character poem. Analyze dark and bright imagery, raven tresses, and tender light; depict deeper traits through contrast and nature.

Learn practical and artistic approaches to writing plays and screenplays, covering formatting, length, dialogue, plot exposition, staging considerations, and how Shakespeare and Miller shape language.

Explore how Shakespeare uses plot exposition in Hamlet to ground action with backstory about the king, Fortinbras, and Norway, and compare methods like gossip, dialogue, or narration.

Learn to craft tense dialogue using Arthur Miller’s The Crucible scene between Proctor and Elizabeth, demonstrating show-don't-tell amid Salem witch trials and potential hangings.

Discover how to mine personal experience, reading, history, and places for your big idea, and turn inspiration from poets, novels, legends, and hobbies into compelling fiction.

Explore how famous novels use structures like first-person narration, multiple perspectives, and stream of consciousness, and how to shape your own novel with chapters, sections, and a clear synopsis.

Explore how authors convey relatable characters through description, dialogue, and action, prompting emotional responses from readers with examples like Luna Lovegood, Elizabeth Bennet, and Tyrion Lannister.

Explore how to craft memorable characters through Lady Catherine de Bourgh's dialogue, analyzing status, voice, and conflict to guide engaging writing.

Explore a moving scene from Harry Potter that highlights characterization and empathy as Harry and Luna confront death, loss, and the Thestrals beyond the veil.

Explore crafting character voice and atmosphere by comparing Victorian and modern language, using unrequited love examples and dialect cues to tailor vocabulary to era, audience, and setting.

Learn to craft a 500–1000 word short story by studying Tolkien and Kipling, keep sentences short and punchy, build memorable characters, and ensure a clear structure for magazines and blogs.

Explore writing from experience through Rudyard Kipling's Baa Baa Black Sheep and a personal short story exercise that prompts you to recall, resolve, and reflect on childhood moments.

Leaf by Niggle, Tolkien's short story, uses imagery to show the power of art to depict life, with Nigel the painter whose life is mirrored in his painting.

Select one object: teddy bear, candle, or light bulb, and describe its edge, color, size, smell, and texture, then craft its backstory using Kipling's six serving men.

Use Google as a prompt to spark a short story or poem by selecting an image that evokes emotion and exploring who, what, where, and why.

Recall your earliest memory and describe textures, smells, colors, sounds, place, and who was there. Write scene as prose, a poem, or a monologue, and note how you feel now.

Explore intertextual writing by using other texts as inspiration, not plagiarism. Use examples like Shakespeare and In Memoriam to craft a love and loss story.

Learn to publish on Kindle, format with Kindle Create, design a professional cover, optimize descriptions with keywords, and use Kindle Select and Lending Library to boost visibility and reviews.

Explore affordable options for printed copies, from cover design and ISBN to barcode and print on demand, and discover sale avenues like talks, book clubs, churches, events, and bookshops.

Keep writing and develop your ideas after this course by sharing your work for feedback and inviting peers to read and comment in the course Q&A.